The present invention is an improvement over the invention disclosed and claimed in copending, commonly assigned application Ser. No. 238,013, filed Feb. 25, 1981, entitled "Modular Prosthesis Assembly", now U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,691.
Various endoprosthetic joints have become known for replacement of damaged or destroyed joint members, which are implanted in the human body. So, there exist prosthetic hip joints, knee joints and upper arm prostheses and the like. The usual endoprosthetic joints are normally provided with a shank which is driven into a bone canal and is fastened therein, i.e. either with or without bone cement.
Conventional endoprosthetic joints can no longer be implanted if, due to a tumor, for example, not only the joint but also bone regions adjacent the joint have been affected. In this case, a surgeon is compelled to resect the affected bone portions. The usual endoprosthetic joint portions are then no longer able to find any support at the bone.
In connection with the resection of bone portions affected by tumor it has become known to replace the resected region by a replacement portion. The replacement portion is made by hand. Between the diagnosis and the completion of the specific bone replacement portion, oftentimes, three weeks and more elapse. In this connection the danger exists that due to the progressing sickness of the bone the originally pre-calculated length of the bone replacement portion no longer suffices because the tumor has progressed too far. Besides, it is understandable that the production costs for bone replacement portions made by hand are extremely high.